


nowhere to go but up

by anthropologicalhands



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Morning Cuddles, Post-Thor: The Dark World, morning sex (implied)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-16
Updated: 2014-01-16
Packaged: 2018-01-08 22:10:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1137988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anthropologicalhands/pseuds/anthropologicalhands
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It is not uncomfortable, waking up with Thor’s arm draped over her waist, their legs entangled under the sheets. It is inconvenient when she wants to get out of bed or, at the very least, look over last night’s data.</p>
            </blockquote>





	nowhere to go but up

Jane is used to odd hours, to having her sleep schedule dictated solely by atmospheric disturbances and unusual spikes in radiation.

However, these days, with two interns working under her, a burgeoning reputation as _the_ expert on wormholes, and an alien boyfriend who has appointed himself as the guardian of her health, she is learning how to sleep again. 

Others have tried to keep her to a schedule before, but Thor is the first time that it seems to be sticking. Partly because he respects the needs of her work and partly because he can literally carry her out of the lab should she extend too far past her limits.

Or, alternatively, it could be because they now share a bed and he is a very clingy sleeper.

It is not uncomfortable, waking up with Thor’s arm draped over her waist, their legs entangled under the sheets. It is inconvenient when she wants to get out of bed or, at the very least, look over last night’s data. Trapped flush against him, she cannot reach the tablet resting on the bedside table for that very purpose.

Jane shifts from her belly to her side, under the weight that is Thor’s arm and against the press of his body. His grip is not entirely unyielding, but she may wake him if she is not careful. Their new alarm clock—the latest in a long line of the Asgardian-proof tech Tony has been testing, unsuccessfully, she will happily report—indicates they have an hour before it will be time to rise. 

All about the baby steps, she reminds herself. She does not have to go to the lab right away.

If she can move _upwards_ a little bit, she will be able to reach the bedside table, grab her tablet, and do a quick review without having to abandon Thor and his warmth for the lab and its November chill.

Contrary to what others (meaning Darcy, Erik, her college roommate, her mother, and so on) might say, Jane can be lazy. She does have pockets of time where she doesn't need to be at work.

They just come few and far between. 

There is a snort from Thor, and he turns his face away from the pillow. The minute movement is nevertheless enough for Jane to slide upwards, enough that the tablet is within arm’s reach. Triumphantly, she grasps it by the corner. She turns over on her stomach again, to better hold it with both hands, calling up screens with some recent data. Besides her, Thor sleeps on. 

She steals glances at him, to ensure his slumber is peaceful. He is not the most dignified of sleepers, with his tendency to sprawl out across the bed, but for now he looks peaceful, his face smooth of any harsh lines. The bad dreams have been lessening. She still remembers the cold slither of the Aether, its phantom course through her body. He still grieves for Loki. But they are healing. Jane likes to think that by turning their focus outwards, opening themselves to a whole universe neither of them are familiar with, they gain perspective. Certainly, it has made her workload less tedious. Time spent searching for traces of wormholes goes so much faster when she has someone who draws her constellations she has never seen, and when she can tell stories that no one else would understand.

She tries to focus on her particle data, but her mind keeps drifting away. Instead, she brings up the images of another realm’s sky. The constellations are illuminated with ruby lines that glimmer when she turns the tablet at one angle or another. She only has to touch one to bring up a new screen, with the transcripts of the stories Thor told her. She even has audio recordings, for his particular turn of phrase is always eloquent in a way that is lost on paper.

For a moment she is tempted to listen to one of his tales. But her earbuds are in the kitchen, and the bed is warm, and she does not wish to disturb him.

There is a groan and the arm over her waist suddenly clenches and draws her back down under their covers, leaving her tablet abandoned against the headboard.

Jane’s shrieks are muffled by the fluffy comforter as she wriggles and tries, futilely, to escape. She feels Thor laugh as he steadies her on top of him, both of his arms snug around her waist. 

“Good morning, Jane.” Thor is grinning, and looking remarkably awake for someone who was snoring only moments ago. Jane wonders if he really needs to sleep as much as humans do, or if he only does so to ensure that she won’t spend so long in the lab that every time she blinks she sees equations.

“Morning, Thor,” she mumbles, letting her head drop against his chest. Her heart is beating a little faster from the ambush, but his is as steady as ever. “Don’t do that.”

Thor hums something that could be agreement. One of his hands rubs at her upper back: thoughtless little circles on her bare skin. “What were you working on?”

“Not working exactly.” Jane reaches up and pats around for the tablet, finding it unharmed by their brief struggle, and pulls it down to where Thor can see it. “I was reading our notes about the Vanir’s constellations.”

“Vanaheim is a beautiful realm,” says Thor, “Not quite as fine as Asgard, but worthy of consideration.”

“As though you have no bias,” Jane grins, and nips lightly at his collarbone. She feels his sudden intake of breath, and looks through her eyelashes to see him scowling at her.

“One cannot be evenhanded in regards to the merits of their home,” he says, haughty. His hands stop rubbing, and slide low on her backside. “Though I will confess that Asgard is the most heavenly of the Nine Realms, I have always been appreciative of the _substance_ of Midgard.”

He squeezes; Jane yelps and squirms, laughing, in his grasp.

“Not nice!” She smacks his cheek, not hard. 

He smirks up at her, unrepentant. She holds his gaze, then swoops down to peck him on the cheek. “Well, if you’re up, we might as well start the day. Let me go.”

He raises an eyebrow at her; she keeps her face stern. If she shows any weakness, there is a very good chance she will be forced to explain her late entrance to a smirking Darcy, and those conversations have been happening with disturbing frequency.

“You seemed content to stay here but a few minutes ago,” he points out, though his hold loosens on her waist and she slides off him, back to her side of the bed. He sits up to face her. “I see no reason to hurry.”

Jane doesn’t respond. Instead, she reaches over to run a hand through his hair, marveling at how long it is. Very attractive. She never used to find long hair attractive.

“My paper is making second rounds in peer review. Got the email yesterday,” she says. “So I have some time before I receive the results. And none of my equipment has been registering any unusual activity since the Convergence. Besides, you were pinning me down.”

“I would never be so careless,” says Thor, affronted. Jane tries to hide her smile, but fails.

“I know you wouldn’t. But it’s a nice excuse to stay in bed.” 

Thor laughs at that. Jane pushes the covers aside and sits up, scanning the floor for any relatively clean clothes she can wear.

“Indeed.” The spring of the mattress indicates that Thor has also risen. “But perhaps we do not need to spend it in the lab, either.”

“Pardon?” Jane twists around to look at Thor. 

“Not that I am suggesting you do not spend enough time at leisure,” Thor hastens to add. “However, the stars of Vanaheim are always bright, particularly during this season. If you have the time, Jane, why not make use of it to see the stars of another realm?”

Jane turns around to face him directly, a tank top in hand. “Are you talking about having a date night?”

Thor gives a one-shouldered shrug. “Hogun was disappointed to have missed seeing you in Asgard, for he would have liked to hear another outsider’s perspective of Asgard. He has extended a formal invitation to us, to join him and his family in Vanaheim when we had the luxury. It would be a social meeting, certainly, but Hogun is well-versed in the lore of his world, and I believe that he would be more than happy to share his knowledge of Vanaheim’s stars with you.” He flashes her a knowing smile. “And, if I am not mistaken, he wishes to debate the failings of Asgard with someone not inclined by old habit to defend it."

Jane stares at him, then falls back onto the bed, her hands pressed over her face.

“Jane?” There is heat from his bare skin—he is hovering over her. He sounds anxious. “I do not mean for the invitation to be a burden. If you would prefer to work in your lab—”

“It’s okay, Thor.” Her voice comes out muffled through her hands, and she removes them, tipping her head so he will see her smile. “It sounds incredible. And now would be the perfect time.”

“Your reaction suggests otherwise, though what, I do not know,” says Thor, furrows in his brow. Jane laughs, and reaches up to smooth them away with her fingertips.

“Your idea of a date is to show me stars on another planet,” she says. “Sometimes, I wonder if you’re real. That I’m not still in school and just made you up after pulling one too many all-nighters.”

He smiles then, warm and true, takes one of her hands in his and kisses the knuckles. 

“I am as real as you are, Jane. Though, should you require additional proof…”

Jane laughs again and rolls off the bed, out of his reach. “ _Down_ , boy. If you want to call down Heimdell, I need to get enough work done to justify siccing Darcy on the scanners for the night watch.”

“That is her duty as your intern, is it not? She would understand that your attention is devoted elsewhere in the sake of research.”

Jane snags a pair of jeans off her desk chair and shimmies into them. “Maybe. But it’s Darcy. She’ll call it some sort of ‘interstellar vacation’ and I’ll never hear the end of it.” She grimaces. “Actually, we should probably invite her. I promised her that the next time you kidnapped me through time and space, she could come too."

Thor looks as though his honor was deeply offended, which Jane finds amusing when he is only wearing boxers.

“My actions were that of a rescue, _not_ an abduction.” He says loftily, turning to rifle through the dresser. “And Darcy is welcome where you are welcome, though I fear that to bring her to another realm might instigate a new era of chaos. And who would monitor your lab?”

“I can handle Darcy.” Jane tugs on the tank top, then a flannel, which she starts buttoning. “As for the equipment, that’s why I have two interns instead of one.” Ian, blandness aside, has proven to be a most competent intern, especially when it comes to learning Darcy’s systems. “Um, is there any way to let Hogun know…”

“He will be happy to see us, regardless of when we come,” says Thor with certainty. “And should he have any lingering duties to attend to before we can break bread together, such as a dragon or wayward sheep, we will lend our services.”

“Sounds fair.” Jane grabs a hair tie off the nightstand and pulls back her hair. She looks up to see Thor, clothes in hand, eyeing her. “What?”

“Are you not going to shower?”

“In a little bit. I need to write down instructions for Ian if we’re going to be leaving…I’m sorry, when would we be leaving?”

“Whenever you wish. Heimdell will know.”

“This afternoon then,” Jane decides. “Don’t worry, I’ll shower before we go. I’m not about to embarrass him.”

“That is not the point I intended to make.”

“Then what point are you trying to make?”

Thor just gives her a look, one eyebrow raised.

…Well.

“You sure?” Their new house is wonderful in a lot of ways, but they will have to renovate the bathroom at some point. The close quarters is not the problem, but his head is a little too close to the slanted ceiling for comfort.

“We are ahead of schedule. Stark’s device has not even started beeping yet, and we will be in Vanaheim, with Darcy, under Hogun’s hospitality for the evening. Why not take advantage of the time we have alone together?”

It looks like she might not be escaping Darcy’s smirk after all.

Well, Ian knows how to check the equipment without her. He has done it before. Multiple times.

“Points made. I’m going to go brush my teeth then, get that out of the way.” She sidles between the bed and boxes stacked against the wall (they are still unpacking, six months in). “Make sure you do the same.”

Thor’s rumbling laughter follows her down the hallway.

At the sink, mouth full of toothpaste, Jane goes over her schedule in her head. Shower with her boyfriend. Do a quick data run, make sure Ian understands Darcy’s system. Invite Darcy to Vanaheim. Pack her notebook and a portable scanner. Travel through the Bifrost.

Jane smiles to herself.

It is shaping up to be a good day.

It gets even better when, a few minutes later, Thor slips into the shower and informs her that they will need to send the remains of the alarm clock to Tony.


End file.
